No volunteers means no festival

August 18, 2014

FAIRMONT - As summer festival and fair season wraps up, there was one notably missing event this year.

"It sounded like a lot of people were disappointed that there wasn't an Interlaken Heritage Days this year," said Bev Korelewski, who had helped organize the event for many years. However, lack of volunteers this year meant no festival.

"It's sad, because all these other towns, Welcome and Sherburn and Blue Earth, all the other towns around us still are able to to put together their festivals," Korelewski said.

A meeting to help look for new members and new ideas will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 10 at the Martin County Library. Korelewski said the meeting is the last stand for Fairmont's IHD summer festival's future.

"The meeting is to get new members and new leaders," Korelewski said. "If there are no members, then IHD is not going to happen again."

Korelewski said there needs to be enough volunteers to form sub-committees within the festival committee.

"Sub-committees are a biggie," she said. "We need to organize the food, the entertainment, fundraising, children's events ... I don't think people realize that we pay the bands to be in the parade."

Because this is the last hope for the summer festival, Korelewski is open to any new ideas, one of the reasons the event is no longer being referred to exclusively as Interlaken Heritage Days.

"It would be nice if we could get more events to tie in, such as Heritage Acres, Fairmont Market Square, and the marina," Korelewski said. "We could all work together ... I talked to someone who had all these ideas, but we need the people to help implement them."

Because there are so many areas that need attention for a festival to be a success, sub-committees and leaders for those committees is a must.

"I've been in touch with Mat Mahoney, and he's willing to help with sporting things," Korelewski said. "But this is the time to determine because we used to have our vendors booked by the first of the year, and we need fundraisers throughout the year."

With more volunteers, the work for a festival is not as overwhelming.

"There's usually only one meeting a month for sub-committee heads and the festival committee," Korelewski said. "I really hope this reorganizational meeting will help make a fresh chapter for our summer festival."